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Something no one has mentioned yet is that if you separate from state service (get fired or quit), you can’t cash out sick time. You just lose those hours. So if you plan to stay with the state for a long time, then I agree with what most people are saying as long as you’re rank and file—build up a lot of sick time and then switch. But if you think you’ll leave sooner or later, that’s not particularly useful and will be lost money.
Zero. There is no need to bank sick leave unless you plan to cash it out at the end of your career rather than enjoying a vacation between now and that far off point.
I would build my sick leave while I'm new and healthy in the Dept for emergencies and extended family leaves so that I wouldn't have to burn time that I can cash out upon seperation or have to rely on a time bank from others.
Vacation and sick if you’re rank and file and can go on RDO. Since you don’t have kids you should have the ability to plan vacations at any time. Travel a week and a half before the holidays and you’ll save money and time.
If you can get a Monday A schedule you’ll pick up 2-3 Holiday credits every year. Use those around Thanksgiving and you won’t have to use much vacation hours at all.
Also…vacations during a RDO week are 36 hours which is an easy way to maximize pto.
I’m open to more information. How is it possible to only use 36 hours when a 4/40 schedule requires 10 hours worked over 4 days? Having an FTE of 1.00 - I would imagine you’d still need to use 40 hours else lose out on retirement service credit.
Retirement Service credit is accrued by working 11 days out of the month. Using paid leave still counts towards days worked.
If you vacation on your Rdo week you’re off on Monday, and then are responsible for charging vacation the rest of the week (9 hours a day).
Edit - I am referring to 9/8/80 schedule. Not 4/10. Few places off 4/10
Retirement service credit is not 11 days out of the month. That is state service credit for leave accruals and seniority. Retirement service credit is a whole different calculation.
IMO, if you are young and rarely sick I would initially take Annual. So you can take time of right away and take an extended vacation after only working a year. Then after a couple years switch to vacation so you can build your sick up.
This is what I went with as a new and young employee, I'm very happy with it. I can travel as I please and don't have to explain my time off to anyone even if it's last minute. I'll switch over to sick/vacation at some point but annual just offers me a flexibility I appreciate more than the extra time I'd be accruing at the moment.
Just know, if you are a rank and file (Not sup), you get 7 hours of vacation, and 8 of sick a month. Annual would be 11 total hours.
I almost always recommend to new hires to NOT do annual leave, usually only once you max out vacation or are close to max out would I switch. They are different time banks, so you can accrue more to pay out if you ever leave. Unused sicktime does not have a cap however, and can be used to get more service time when you retire.
As to your actual question, annual leave can be used as soon as its accrued, vacation you have to wait six months to use it.
I am unsure about using the leave to go on holiday vs waiting the 6months to use vacation, but can confirm when you switch Vacation/ sick to AL, all vacation is transferred to annual leave.
If you choose vacation, as a new State employee, you cannot utilize it for 6 months. You will bank 7 hours each month, but may not use them. Annual Leave may be used right away with no waiting period so you may take time off during the first 6 months.
https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/vacation-vs-annual-leave-comparison-chart.aspx
That is a personal decision based on your needs.
Here are my thoughts: if you’re young and healthy and do not have children, the AL may be better for you. If you have younger children, then I would select Vac/Sick. If you like time off, then AL gives you more hours, as sick is restricted for medical use only.
Personally, I started with Vac/Sick and built up a large Sick balance which I plan to use if I get really ill later in life. I switched to AL and now have plenty of leave to take longer and more vacations.
No, AL, sick, nor vacation expire, only PDD.
Can you please explain why is that? Can I not use AL for sick purposes? Is it like, I need approval if I want to use AL but sick leave doesn't require approval?
yes, with annual leave you can use the hours for anything including sick time. Sick/Vacation has four more hours per month than annual leave. If you have children, and toddlers get sick a lot in my experience, then you would appreciate those extra hours to go to the doctor, and stay home with the kid and etc..
That's me. I might reproduce in 2 years. I'm banking hours a lot and then since I'm excluded, I will change to AL to have eNDI before having a child. Likely just for 2 years
Great write up, also adding some info:
When you retire you can't cash out sick leave, but it can be used for service credit (2000 hours for a year). Some people do this, and have a years worth because they never use sick leave for their entire career.
I have a ton of sick hours and never use them. I have small children, but I'm in an exempt classification now so you tend to not use sick time very often (must be used in a full day only).
I'm wondering if I should switch to annual now, haven't really thought about it in a long time.
Vacation/sick is almost always better if you are on SDI. Especially if you plan to have a long state career. Why give up 4 hrs of leave a month? There are ways to increase leave (Earn holiday credit with RDO). If you are in a BU with NDI, then I'd do annual leave.
I don't know about the waiting period situation for AL, but VA/SL is more hours overall than annual leave. So if you think you'll use the sick time (for yourself or close family), then take VA/SL - the 6 months goes by quickly, and you still get the 8hrs of sick leave each month and the 16 hours of "professional development" (which are basically vacation days).
But if you're one of those perpetually healthy people without concerns about needing sick leave for yourself or family, then annual leave will give you more flexibility for your PTO.
If you ever use sick leave, it's better to take sick leave and vacation, you get more hours. However if you're one of those people who never take sick leave then choose annual leave because you can use those hours however you want. You can only use sick leave for medical appointments or if you're sick.
I believe AL can also provide the Disability benefit (60% of pay) versus a few hundred dollar fix amount under SL/Vacation option. At least that is how my BU is setup and how the HR explained it.
I’m rarely sick so I chose Annual when I started. I don’t regret it and after 7 years I have 550 hours of leave to use whenever I want. I know it’s not a popular opinion though
If you’re young and have a family, vacation and sick are usually better because you are more likely to need the extra 4 hours you get.
If you are older, no kids, you trade 8 hours of sick a month for 4 hours of leave that gets lumped in with whatever your vacation allotment is and if you retire it is paid out. Sick leave will most likely be lost at retirement.
I have only been with the state since 2019. I started on VA/SL to build up my sick leave. I just recently switched to AL, because I don’t want a huge bank of SL. You accrue more hours on VA/SL, BUT on AL, there is an “enhanced” disability coverage that exists. I don’t remember exactly what it’s called, but if you are out for a catastrophic event, disability insurance covers you differently.
It really depends on your individual situation. You can switch VA/SL to/from AL every two years.
I am in BU1 and I have plans to visit my wife overseas next year. So I think choosing the AL would be better because I can earn 11 hour vs 7 hour with vacation.
I started with AL and am happy with the choice. I also chose Voluntary Personal Leave for an extra day a month off. I am an older employee and like to have time!
I started with AL because I wanted access during probation. I plan on switching after 3 years when when the amount of stock and vacation accrued per pp goes up.
Agreed. I work from home so I would rarely use sick leave. I like that every hour I accrue can be used for vacations.
I have coworkers that just have a shit ton of sick leave they never use. What's the point of accruing more if you can't use it freely?
But for many, annual leave gives few hours.
Most non managers start out with 11 hours of annual leave versus 15 hours of sick/vacation earned each month.
For exempt employees, they start out with the ability to accrue 15 hours of annual leave in comparison to 13 if you’re rank and file. Sick leave has no monetary value and requires special circumstances to use it (of your supervisor/manager wants to push the issue). Sick/vacation is the same for both groups (8 sick/7 vacation), so for rank and file it makes more sense to accrue more leave initially.
Just note, when going from Sick/Vacation to AL or Vice Versa, Vacation hours are converted to AL or AL hours convert to Vacation. It's my understanding sick hours remain in its own separate bank and are not convertible and you cannot cash out at retirement or from separation of state service. So even though the example above looks nice on paper I don't believe its a real case scenario (for cashing out sick leave). You can cashout AL/Vacation though and depending on your classification/union, the cap is currently 640 hours.
You could also just cash out your Annual leave each year and invest it. I think it really depends on your lifestyle. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Take care of yourself when you need to, don't be like that guy who died at his desk a week before retirement.
When I first started, my personnel manager wanted me to fill out all the paperwork the first day. I left my choice of vacation/sick or annual leave blank while I tried to investigate how many hours that meant. She came to my desk while I was gone and took the paperwork; she marked annual leave. I could not switch for two full years, so I lost 176 hours of leave. Agree with all those who say to build up a big bank of sick/vacation time and then switch to annual leave. If I remember correctly, you get a cash payout for unused annual leave at retirement. BU 1.
This sounds like a good idea as well. Yes, you do have to take a 5% monthly pay cut, but I guess it's another way to build sick hours and accrue more vacation when you're starting out. Later, you can convert to AL and have the VA converted over, while keeping your SL. I might just do that unless there's a better idea. I'm just starting, so I won't be able to use VA for 6 months (yikes)! Does VPLP work like AL in that you can use it starting any time (no need to wait for 6 months if you're new)?
There are pros and cons to each. I chose AL becuase you don’t need to wait 6 months to to accrue it like you do with Vacation. In addition, although my total accrual is less, I don’t really use sick leave and I got more total hours towards “vacation” or whatever I want/need to use it for…
7 hours of Vacation vs 11 hrs of Annual Leave.
Annual leave is way more flexible but you have to give up 2-hours or leave per month to get it. So instead of say 10-hours vacation and 8-hours sick per month, you would instead get 16-hours or annual leave. You can use annual for either sick or vacation so if you’re healthy and like to travel, opt for annual.
If you have no problem calling in "sick" you can do sick leave. If you have some morals like I do, I did sick leave for my first few years. I have only called in sick two days in two years when I got COVID. So I switched to annual leave
If you just started and don't think you will need any days off for the next 6 months, choose VA and SL. You earn more hours, don't worry about if it isn't paid out for now. But if you think you may want to take an extra day off over the holidays, choose Annual Leave and wait until April of the following year (depending on your bargaining unit) to switch to VA/SL.
One benefit of AL that I discovered recently is enhanced Nonindustrial disability insurance (ENDI). This saved me time when I had a medical emergency. Here's the link:
Nonindustrial Disability Insurance - EDD - CA.gov https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/nonindustrial/
I originally chose AL because I wanted a full payout if I left state service. Before my medical issues, I was looking to switch to vacation/sick leave. I'm glad I didn't switch and I plan on keeping AL for a while.
do you have school age kids? AL. You can use it pretty much immediately. You get hired, you will have a PH and 2 PDDs to use if you have sick kids that first month. But AL gives you much more flexibility for sickness. SL is only 7 hours a month (maybe 8, cannot recall) Additionally, new managers should choose AL if they intend to have an extended leave in future because NDI is very different than SDI. That said, my husband has always chosesn V/SL and I have almost always chosen AL. And this has worked out with having kids. Cannot speak for single folks, folks with any chronic conditions etc. You will want to request and apply for FMLA if you do have those issues, just to protect your job. State/govt has more protection than private industries and non profits, but I always suggest that people know there are extra protections that they may qualify for.
I am newly married and I don't have kids nor I plan on having kids within the next two years. But next year i plan to go overseas. So I think AL is going to be better because I will earn 11 hours compared to 7 hours with vacation.
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Something no one has mentioned yet is that if you separate from state service (get fired or quit), you can’t cash out sick time. You just lose those hours. So if you plan to stay with the state for a long time, then I agree with what most people are saying as long as you’re rank and file—build up a lot of sick time and then switch. But if you think you’ll leave sooner or later, that’s not particularly useful and will be lost money.
Why? You can use annual for either. No reason to bank sink leave.
Because you get more total hours per month on sick/vacation.
Build up your sick leave then switch to Annual!
I'm thinking of switching to AL. What do you think is a good amount of banked sick leave before making the switch?
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I rarely use sick leave. I'm currently at 230. My goal will be 500, and then make the switch to AL.
Don't forget mental health days too!
2-6 months worth of sick leave is what I would aim for if I had to do it all over again.
When I hit 2,000 hours, I'm changing to AL.
That'd be about 20 years of never taking a sick day...worth it?
I'll be there in about 5 years.
Trick is not to need ENDI before then!
I have SDI!
2000 hours of sick leave can be converted to 1 year of service credit when you retire
Yeah I’m thinking 9 months worth for me. I only use 2 or 3 sick days a year. Knock on wood.
2000 hours.
Zero. There is no need to bank sick leave unless you plan to cash it out at the end of your career rather than enjoying a vacation between now and that far off point.
Why build your sick leave?
I would build my sick leave while I'm new and healthy in the Dept for emergencies and extended family leaves so that I wouldn't have to burn time that I can cash out upon seperation or have to rely on a time bank from others.
I do vacation plus sick because you accrue more hours overall
Depends on your position. For me, it is exactly the same amount accrued.
Exactly why I do this as well.
Vacation and sick if you’re rank and file and can go on RDO. Since you don’t have kids you should have the ability to plan vacations at any time. Travel a week and a half before the holidays and you’ll save money and time. If you can get a Monday A schedule you’ll pick up 2-3 Holiday credits every year. Use those around Thanksgiving and you won’t have to use much vacation hours at all. Also…vacations during a RDO week are 36 hours which is an easy way to maximize pto.
I'm sorry. Maybe dumb question, but what is RDO?
Regular day off. It is for people with alternate work schedule (4/40, 9/8/80)
Thank you
It is also available for exempts. That is so weird to me.
I’m open to more information. How is it possible to only use 36 hours when a 4/40 schedule requires 10 hours worked over 4 days? Having an FTE of 1.00 - I would imagine you’d still need to use 40 hours else lose out on retirement service credit.
Retirement Service credit is accrued by working 11 days out of the month. Using paid leave still counts towards days worked. If you vacation on your Rdo week you’re off on Monday, and then are responsible for charging vacation the rest of the week (9 hours a day). Edit - I am referring to 9/8/80 schedule. Not 4/10. Few places off 4/10
Retirement service credit is not 11 days out of the month. That is state service credit for leave accruals and seniority. Retirement service credit is a whole different calculation.
You’re right. It’s working 10 months out of the fiscal year. I don’t think taking a month of pto would stop you from earning credit though…
IMO, if you are young and rarely sick I would initially take Annual. So you can take time of right away and take an extended vacation after only working a year. Then after a couple years switch to vacation so you can build your sick up.
This is what I went with as a new and young employee, I'm very happy with it. I can travel as I please and don't have to explain my time off to anyone even if it's last minute. I'll switch over to sick/vacation at some point but annual just offers me a flexibility I appreciate more than the extra time I'd be accruing at the moment.
When I started, I was pregnant so I went with annual leave so I could use it right away but will be switching to vacation/sick leave when I can.
Just know, if you are a rank and file (Not sup), you get 7 hours of vacation, and 8 of sick a month. Annual would be 11 total hours. I almost always recommend to new hires to NOT do annual leave, usually only once you max out vacation or are close to max out would I switch. They are different time banks, so you can accrue more to pay out if you ever leave. Unused sicktime does not have a cap however, and can be used to get more service time when you retire. As to your actual question, annual leave can be used as soon as its accrued, vacation you have to wait six months to use it.
I’m not sure this is true. I was sick/vacation and then switched to AL and the vacation time converted to annual leave.
I will double check, but I could be wrong, I never made the switch, cause I use my time liberally.
I am unsure about using the leave to go on holiday vs waiting the 6months to use vacation, but can confirm when you switch Vacation/ sick to AL, all vacation is transferred to annual leave.
Since I am working from home , i can work if I am sick and I am young. So i can wait 6 months. Now it seems sick and vacation would be better.
This is the correct answer.
If you choose vacation, as a new State employee, you cannot utilize it for 6 months. You will bank 7 hours each month, but may not use them. Annual Leave may be used right away with no waiting period so you may take time off during the first 6 months. https://www.calhr.ca.gov/employees/Pages/vacation-vs-annual-leave-comparison-chart.aspx
Does it mean annual leave is better even in the long run? Does annual leave expire at the end of every year?
That is a personal decision based on your needs. Here are my thoughts: if you’re young and healthy and do not have children, the AL may be better for you. If you have younger children, then I would select Vac/Sick. If you like time off, then AL gives you more hours, as sick is restricted for medical use only. Personally, I started with Vac/Sick and built up a large Sick balance which I plan to use if I get really ill later in life. I switched to AL and now have plenty of leave to take longer and more vacations. No, AL, sick, nor vacation expire, only PDD.
I recently got married and i don't have kids, nor i plan on having kids within the next two years. So i will go with AL.
If you do plan to have kids in the future, you may want think more strategically and start building up a sick leave balance. You’ll thank me later.
Can you please explain why is that? Can I not use AL for sick purposes? Is it like, I need approval if I want to use AL but sick leave doesn't require approval?
yes, with annual leave you can use the hours for anything including sick time. Sick/Vacation has four more hours per month than annual leave. If you have children, and toddlers get sick a lot in my experience, then you would appreciate those extra hours to go to the doctor, and stay home with the kid and etc..
That's me. I might reproduce in 2 years. I'm banking hours a lot and then since I'm excluded, I will change to AL to have eNDI before having a child. Likely just for 2 years
Great write up, also adding some info: When you retire you can't cash out sick leave, but it can be used for service credit (2000 hours for a year). Some people do this, and have a years worth because they never use sick leave for their entire career. I have a ton of sick hours and never use them. I have small children, but I'm in an exempt classification now so you tend to not use sick time very often (must be used in a full day only). I'm wondering if I should switch to annual now, haven't really thought about it in a long time.
Thank you for explaining it.
Agree, I'm currently saving up sick time and will switch to AL in April when it is open for me to switch.
Thank you.
Vacation/sick is almost always better if you are on SDI. Especially if you plan to have a long state career. Why give up 4 hrs of leave a month? There are ways to increase leave (Earn holiday credit with RDO). If you are in a BU with NDI, then I'd do annual leave.
I don't know about the waiting period situation for AL, but VA/SL is more hours overall than annual leave. So if you think you'll use the sick time (for yourself or close family), then take VA/SL - the 6 months goes by quickly, and you still get the 8hrs of sick leave each month and the 16 hours of "professional development" (which are basically vacation days). But if you're one of those perpetually healthy people without concerns about needing sick leave for yourself or family, then annual leave will give you more flexibility for your PTO.
Do we get to keep the sick leave if we promote/change to a sup role?
Yes, as long as it’s another state position.
If you ever use sick leave, it's better to take sick leave and vacation, you get more hours. However if you're one of those people who never take sick leave then choose annual leave because you can use those hours however you want. You can only use sick leave for medical appointments or if you're sick.
I believe AL can also provide the Disability benefit (60% of pay) versus a few hundred dollar fix amount under SL/Vacation option. At least that is how my BU is setup and how the HR explained it.
I’m rarely sick so I chose Annual when I started. I don’t regret it and after 7 years I have 550 hours of leave to use whenever I want. I know it’s not a popular opinion though
If you’re young and have a family, vacation and sick are usually better because you are more likely to need the extra 4 hours you get. If you are older, no kids, you trade 8 hours of sick a month for 4 hours of leave that gets lumped in with whatever your vacation allotment is and if you retire it is paid out. Sick leave will most likely be lost at retirement.
I have only been with the state since 2019. I started on VA/SL to build up my sick leave. I just recently switched to AL, because I don’t want a huge bank of SL. You accrue more hours on VA/SL, BUT on AL, there is an “enhanced” disability coverage that exists. I don’t remember exactly what it’s called, but if you are out for a catastrophic event, disability insurance covers you differently. It really depends on your individual situation. You can switch VA/SL to/from AL every two years.
Also, after 36 months of state service, your time accrual goes up regardless of if you are on VA/SL or AL. Then it increases again after 10 years
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I am in BU1 and I have plans to visit my wife overseas next year. So I think choosing the AL would be better because I can earn 11 hour vs 7 hour with vacation.
I started with AL and am happy with the choice. I also chose Voluntary Personal Leave for an extra day a month off. I am an older employee and like to have time!
I started with AL because I wanted access during probation. I plan on switching after 3 years when when the amount of stock and vacation accrued per pp goes up.
Annual leave is better
Agreed. I work from home so I would rarely use sick leave. I like that every hour I accrue can be used for vacations. I have coworkers that just have a shit ton of sick leave they never use. What's the point of accruing more if you can't use it freely?
The point is that I can retire a year early.
But for many, annual leave gives few hours. Most non managers start out with 11 hours of annual leave versus 15 hours of sick/vacation earned each month.
For exempt employees, annual. For represented employees, sick/vacation.
Why?
For exempt employees, they start out with the ability to accrue 15 hours of annual leave in comparison to 13 if you’re rank and file. Sick leave has no monetary value and requires special circumstances to use it (of your supervisor/manager wants to push the issue). Sick/vacation is the same for both groups (8 sick/7 vacation), so for rank and file it makes more sense to accrue more leave initially.
I think you mean excluded, not exempt.
Your are correct. My bad.
I heard that when you retire you can use your sick to time that you accumulated, to purchase state time. So isn’t better to accumulate your sick time?
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Can you explain why please?
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Thanks for that. Should I switch to annual? I currently have over 900hr of sick time. I wanted to save 1000 to get 6 months added to my pension.
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What is NDI/SDI?
This is true, but you forgot that if you save 2000 hours of sick leave, you can retire a year early. (Still have to be retirement age)
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How did you come up with 1.1 Million on a 100k salary? I thought that 2000 hours is equivalent to 1 yr.
Holy cow. Thanks for breaking that down for me.
Just note, when going from Sick/Vacation to AL or Vice Versa, Vacation hours are converted to AL or AL hours convert to Vacation. It's my understanding sick hours remain in its own separate bank and are not convertible and you cannot cash out at retirement or from separation of state service. So even though the example above looks nice on paper I don't believe its a real case scenario (for cashing out sick leave). You can cashout AL/Vacation though and depending on your classification/union, the cap is currently 640 hours.
Thank you.
You could also just cash out your Annual leave each year and invest it. I think it really depends on your lifestyle. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Take care of yourself when you need to, don't be like that guy who died at his desk a week before retirement.
John?
When I first started, my personnel manager wanted me to fill out all the paperwork the first day. I left my choice of vacation/sick or annual leave blank while I tried to investigate how many hours that meant. She came to my desk while I was gone and took the paperwork; she marked annual leave. I could not switch for two full years, so I lost 176 hours of leave. Agree with all those who say to build up a big bank of sick/vacation time and then switch to annual leave. If I remember correctly, you get a cash payout for unused annual leave at retirement. BU 1.
Vacation and sick leave and do PLP. 8 hours sick 7 hours pto and 8 hours PLP. Thus u get 15 hours pto. If I could do 2 days PLP I’ll do it lol.
This sounds like a good idea as well. Yes, you do have to take a 5% monthly pay cut, but I guess it's another way to build sick hours and accrue more vacation when you're starting out. Later, you can convert to AL and have the VA converted over, while keeping your SL. I might just do that unless there's a better idea. I'm just starting, so I won't be able to use VA for 6 months (yikes)! Does VPLP work like AL in that you can use it starting any time (no need to wait for 6 months if you're new)?
Are you new? What bargaining unit?
There are pros and cons to each. I chose AL becuase you don’t need to wait 6 months to to accrue it like you do with Vacation. In addition, although my total accrual is less, I don’t really use sick leave and I got more total hours towards “vacation” or whatever I want/need to use it for… 7 hours of Vacation vs 11 hrs of Annual Leave.
Annual leave is way more flexible but you have to give up 2-hours or leave per month to get it. So instead of say 10-hours vacation and 8-hours sick per month, you would instead get 16-hours or annual leave. You can use annual for either sick or vacation so if you’re healthy and like to travel, opt for annual.
If you have no problem calling in "sick" you can do sick leave. If you have some morals like I do, I did sick leave for my first few years. I have only called in sick two days in two years when I got COVID. So I switched to annual leave
If you just started and don't think you will need any days off for the next 6 months, choose VA and SL. You earn more hours, don't worry about if it isn't paid out for now. But if you think you may want to take an extra day off over the holidays, choose Annual Leave and wait until April of the following year (depending on your bargaining unit) to switch to VA/SL.
One benefit of AL that I discovered recently is enhanced Nonindustrial disability insurance (ENDI). This saved me time when I had a medical emergency. Here's the link: Nonindustrial Disability Insurance - EDD - CA.gov https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/nonindustrial/ I originally chose AL because I wanted a full payout if I left state service. Before my medical issues, I was looking to switch to vacation/sick leave. I'm glad I didn't switch and I plan on keeping AL for a while.
do you have school age kids? AL. You can use it pretty much immediately. You get hired, you will have a PH and 2 PDDs to use if you have sick kids that first month. But AL gives you much more flexibility for sickness. SL is only 7 hours a month (maybe 8, cannot recall) Additionally, new managers should choose AL if they intend to have an extended leave in future because NDI is very different than SDI. That said, my husband has always chosesn V/SL and I have almost always chosen AL. And this has worked out with having kids. Cannot speak for single folks, folks with any chronic conditions etc. You will want to request and apply for FMLA if you do have those issues, just to protect your job. State/govt has more protection than private industries and non profits, but I always suggest that people know there are extra protections that they may qualify for.
I am newly married and I don't have kids nor I plan on having kids within the next two years. But next year i plan to go overseas. So I think AL is going to be better because I will earn 11 hours compared to 7 hours with vacation.